Bhubaneswar: A 35-year-old woman Maoist cadre, carrying a reward of Rs 4 lakh, and another rebel, with a Rs 3 lakh bounty on his head, surrendered before police in Bargarh district in the first such surrender after Mohan Majhi took over as CM in June.
Amila alias Paro alias Puja Tati (35) from Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, and Raghu alias Saitu Padam (31) of Sukma district in the neighbouring state, surrendered to the authorities in Bargarh.
After working in the CPI (Maoist) for over a decade, both the cadres hailing from neighbouring Chhattisgarh, said they felt discrimination as woman and tribal, and differences of views with the outfit compelled them to surrender.
Amila held the position of divisional committee member and chief of the Bargarh squad of CPI (Maoist), while Raghu was an area committee member of the Balangir local organising squad.
Inspector general (northern range), Himanshu Lal, said the surrendered Maoist cadres were involved in several heinous crimes since 2011. Amila, recruited by the Maoists in 2008, was involved in four murders, while Saitu was involved in one murder, besides many other heinous crimes.
“We take this opportunity to appeal to the Maoists to shun violence, join the mainstream society and live a decent life,” Lal said.
Bargarh SP P S Meena said the duo surrendered before the police after realising that the outfit had lost its ideological commitment and instead of working for the poor, it is indulging in meaningless and lawless activities like extortion, attack on innocent civilians and security force personnel, among others. They also revealed that cadres of Chhattisgarh, particularly women, are being subjected to continuous physical, psychological and sexual harassment.

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